At the opening session of the Conference on Remote Sensing for Transportation, D.S. Ekern, Conference Committee Chair, reviewed the conference schedule and reiterated the conference's goals and objectives. R.E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board (TRB), welcomed participants and commented on the TRB's 80 years in assisting the linkage between the users of technology and the researchers and developers of those technologies. E.G. Engleman, Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), U.S. DOT, described the functions of the RSPA, highlighted the importance of transportation to the U.S. economy and the role of technology improvements, and challenged participants to communicate, educate, and outreach. K.T. Thirumalai, RSPA, U.S. DOT, reported that there has been significant progress since the 2000 conference in the program and work of the four university consortia in the National Consortium on Remote Sensing in Transportation. He presented highlights of projects the consortia would present at the conference, as well as a technical and business vision for the program. M.R. Thomas, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth Science Applications Directorate, Stennis Space Center, discussed the challenges for applying remote sensing data to issues in transportation.
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